Method and device for tagging incident data captured by non-public-safety agency controlled cameras

ABSTRACT

A process for tagging incident data captured by non-public-safety agency controlled cameras. In operation, an electronic computing device detects an occurrence of an incident and obtains an incident identifier associated with the incident. The electronic computing device determines that a non-public-safety agency controlled camera is available for capturing incident data corresponding to the incident. The electronic computing device then controls a public-safety agency controlled internet-of-things (IoT) infrastructure deployed at an incident location to emit a signal including one of an audible signal, visible signal, or a combination of audible and visible signals to enable the non-public-safety agency controlled camera to tag incident data using the emitted signal. The electronic computing device links a unique tag representing the emitted signal to the incident identifier. The electronic computing device then searches the incident data captured by the non-public-safety agency controlled camera using the unique tag representing the emitted signal.

BACKGROUND

Mobile devices are now in common use by users. Large number of peoplecurrently carry a mobile device with them at all times. Most Mobiledevices nowadays include a camera that is capable of capturing stillimages as well as full motion video. Moreover, mobile devices are alsoequipped with high speed wireless network functionality (e.g., long termevolution (LTE)) that allow users to upload or stream videos of eventsincluding public-safety incidents. Law enforcement agencies have alsobegun to track media uploaded in public websites to collect crucialevidence about ongoing and past incidents. However, since publicwebsites are used to share information about a variety of topics,searching the media uploaded in such sites to find relevant incidentinformation may be a challenge for law enforcement agencies.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying figures similar or the same reference numerals maybe repeated to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. Thesefigures, together with the detailed description, below are incorporatedin and form part of the specification and serve to further illustratevarious embodiments of concepts that include the claimed invention, andto explain various principles and advantages of those embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication system in accordance withsome embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an electronic computing device shown inFIG. 1 in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a method of tagging incident datacaptured by non-public-safety agency controlled cameras in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIGS. 4A through 4D show examples of visible and audible signals emittedby different public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructuresdeployed at a particular incident location in accordance with someembodiments.

Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures areillustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily beendrawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements inthe figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to helpimprove understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure.

The apparatus and method components have been represented whereappropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only thosespecific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments ofthe present disclosure so as not to obscure the disclosure with detailsthat will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the arthaving the benefit of the description herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In case of emergency incidents (e.g., a public-safety incident such as afire incident), obtaining accurate information such as video footage ofincidents in a timely manner is crucial for public-safety agencies.However, video footage may not be readily available to public-safetyagencies when an incident location does not have any pre-deployedsurveillance cameras that are owned, controlled, or operated by thepublic-safety agencies or alternatively when any cameras that arealready positioned in or near the incident location do not havesufficient coverage or capability to capture the incident. Further, evenif there are pre-deployed cameras that are available near the incident,such cameras may be owned, controlled, or operated by private entities,and therefore public-safety agencies may not have immediate permissionto access and/or search video footage captured by privately owned,operated, or controlled cameras (collectively referred to asnon-public-safety agency controlled cameras).

In some situations, it is possible to obtain video footage from privateusers who may have recorded the events of the incident using theircamera-enabled mobile devices (i.e., non-public-safety agency controlledcameras). In this case, public-safety agencies may be able to searchpublicly accessible media (e.g., social media postings) to find videofootage specifically captured from the incident location. However, anelectronic search of publicly accessible media, for example, using ahashtag may also return media that may be irrelevant to the actualincident. Since hashtags are manually created, different users may becreating same or similar hashtags to tag social media content that maycorrespond to unrelated events or incidents. So, finding a relevantpublicly accessible media using such hashtags created bynon-public-safety agency users for tagging unrelated events may pose achallenge for public-safety agencies.

Disclosed is an improved process of tagging incident data captured bynon-public-safety agency controlled cameras to enable public-safetyagency users to search and process incident data captured bynon-public-safety agencies in an efficient manner.

One embodiment provides a method of tagging incident data captured bynon-public-safety agency controlled cameras. The method comprises:detecting, at an electronic computing device, an occurrence of anincident; obtaining, at the electronic computing device, an incidentidentifier associated with the incident; determining, at the electroniccomputing device, that at least one non-public-safety agency controlledcamera is available for capturing incident data corresponding to theincident; identifying, at the electronic computing device, apublic-safety agency controlled internet-of-things (IoT) infrastructurethat is deployed at a location of the incident; controlling, at theelectronic computing device, the public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructure to emit a signal including one of an audible signal,visible signal, or a combination of audible and visible signals toenable the at least one non-public-safety agency controlled camera totag incident data captured by the at least one non-public-safety agencycontrolled camera using the emitted signal; linking, at the electroniccomputing device, a unique tag representing the emitted signal to theincident identifier associated with the incident; and searching, at theelectronic computing device, the incident data captured by the at leastone non-public-safety agency controlled camera using the unique tagrepresenting the emitted signal.

Another embodiment provides an electronic computing device including atransceiver and an electronic processor communicatively coupled to thetransceiver. The electronic processor is configured to: detect anoccurrence of an incident; obtain an incident identifier associated withthe incident; determine that at least one non-public-safety agencycontrolled camera is available for capturing incident data correspondingto the incident; identify a public-safety agency controlledinternet-of-things (IoT) infrastructure that is deployed at a locationof the incident; control the public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructure to emit a signal including one of an audible signal,visible signal, or a combination of audible and visible signals toenable the at least one non-public-safety agency controlled camera totag incident data captured by the at least one non-public-safety agencycontrolled camera using the emitted signal; link a unique tagrepresenting the emitted signal to the incident identifier associatedwith the incident; and search the incident data captured by the at leastone non-public-safety agency controlled camera using the unique tagrepresenting the emitted signal.

Each of the above-mentioned embodiments will be discussed in more detailbelow, starting with example system and device architectures of thesystem in which the embodiments may be practiced, followed by anillustration of processing blocks for achieving an improved technicalmethod, device, and system for method of tagging incident data capturedby non-public-safety agency controlled cameras. Example embodiments areherein described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or blockdiagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program productsaccording to example embodiments. It will be understood that each blockof the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinationsof blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can beimplemented by computer program instructions. These computer programinstructions may be provided to a processor of a general purposecomputer, special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions,which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmabledata processing apparatus, create means for implementing thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks. The methods and processes set forth herein need not, in someembodiments, be performed in the exact sequence as shown and likewisevarious blocks may be performed in parallel rather than in sequence.

Accordingly, the elements of methods and processes are referred toherein as “blocks” rather than “steps.”

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational blocks to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide blocks for implementing the functions/acts specifiedin the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. It iscontemplated that any part of any aspect or embodiment discussed in thisspecification can be implemented or combined with any part of any otheraspect or embodiment discussed in this specification.

Further advantages and features consistent with this disclosure will beset forth in the following detailed description, with reference to thefigures.

Referring now to the drawings, and in particular FIG. 1 , acommunication system 100 is shown including an electronic computingdevice 110 communicatively coupled to a public-safety agency controlledinternet-of-things (IoT) infrastructure 120 via a communication network130. In some instances, the communications network 130 includes wirelessand wired connections. For example, the communications network 130 maybe implemented using a wide area network, such as the Internet, a localarea network, such as a Wi-Fi network, and personal area or near-fieldnetworks, for example a Bluetooth™ network. Portions of thecommunications network 130 may include a Long Term Evolution (LTE)network, a Global System for Mobile Communications (or Groupe SpecialMobile (GSM)) network, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network,an Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) network, an Enhanced Data Rates forGSM Evolution (EDGE) network, a 3G network, a 4G network, a 5G network,and combinations or derivatives thereof. In accordance with embodiments,the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 120 takes theform of a smart city infrastructure that is deployed for the purpose ofmanaging city infrastructure services like transportation, trafficcontrol, lighting control, building management, energy monitoring,pollution monitoring, public-safety, and community services. Forexample, the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 120includes internet-of-things (IoT) devices that are integrated and/orattached to physical structures, devices, or equipment used for managingcity infrastructure services such as street lights, electronicbanners/billboards, traffic lights, loud speakers, public alert sirens,televisions, projectors, etc. In accordance with some embodiments, theelectronic computing device 110 may take the form of a fixed or mobilecomputing device authorized by governmental agencies (e.g., firedepartment, police department, city department etc.,) to control thepublic-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 120 to emit visibleand/or audible signals for tagging incident data (audio, image, orvideo) captured by non-public-safety agency controlled cameras 140. Thenon-public-safety agency controlled cameras 140 include camera-enabledmobile devices, portable cameras, and other data capturing devices andsensors that are typically carried and/or operated by users (forexample, private/civilian users not associated with public-safetyagencies) for their personal use.

In accordance with some embodiments, the electronic computing device 110is communicatively coupled to emergency communication systems (e.g., 911communication infrastructure including public-safety answering points(PSAPs)) to obtain real-time information related to incidents occurringin geographical areas served by the emergency communication systems. Anincident may be the scene of a crime, fire, accident, medical emergency,natural disaster, or other public-safety incident. The incident scenemay be captured by public-safety agency controlled cameras 150, forexample, surveillance cameras, body-worn cameras, and other fixed ormobile cameras that are owned, controlled, or operated by thepublic-safety agencies. The public-safety agency controlled cameras 150may capture audio, image, or video (collectively referred to as incidentdata) corresponding to the incident and may upload the incident data onan incident database 160. Public-safety agencies may access the incidentdata from the incident database 160 for evidentiary or investigatorypurposes. In addition, public-safety agencies may also receive real-timestreams of incident data such as video footage of the incident from thepublic-safety agency controlled cameras 150. However, in somesituations, the public-safety agency controlled cameras 150 may not beavailable for and/or capable of recording incident data corresponding toan incident occurring at an incident location. In such situations,public-safety agencies (e.g., via the electronic computing device 110)may be able to search publicly accessible media (e.g., social mediapostings uploaded on social media networks 170) to check if incidentdata corresponding to a particular incident has been uploaded using tagsthat are generated based on visible and/or audible signals emitted bypublic-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 120 in accordancewith the remainder of this disclosure.

An example incident scene 180 illustrating an explosion of a vehicle andan injured person at an incident location is shown in FIG. 1 . Users 185operating non-public-safety agency controlled cameras 140 (e.g.,cameras-enabled mobile devices, portable cameras, etc.,) may be presentat the incident location and further capturing the incident scene 180using their respective cameras 140. Similarly, vehicles 190 integratedwith non-public-safety agency controlled cameras 140 (e.g., dashboard orother vehicular type cameras) may be present at the incident scene andcapturing the incident scene 180. When public-safety agency controlledcameras 150 are not available to capture the incident scene 180, theelectronic computing device 110 determines the availability of one ormore non-public-safety agency controlled cameras 140 to capture incidentdata including audio, image, or video corresponding to the incidentscene 180. In order to facilitate the efficient search of incident datacaptured by non-public-safety agency controlled cameras 140, theelectronic computing device 110 identifies a public-safety agencycontrolled IoT infrastructure 120 (e.g., a street light or aloudspeaker) that is deployed at a location of the incident and furthercontrols the identified public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructure 120 to emit one of audible, visible, or combination ofaudible and visible signals (collectively referred herein as an emittedsignal). The electronic computing device 110 further links a unique tagor code representing the emitted signal to an incident identifierassociated with the incident. The non-public-safety agency controlledcameras 140 that record the incident data may use the emitted signal totag any incident data captured from the incident scene 180 and mayfurther upload or stream the incident data on a public network such as asocial media network 170. Tagging the incident data using the emittedsignal allows public-safety agencies to efficiently search incident datacorresponding to a particular incident using the unique tag linked tothe incident identifier associated with the particular incident. Inaccordance with some embodiments, the electronic computing device 110may receive a search query including an incident identifier from apublic-safety agency user indicating a request to search for mediarelated to a particular incident. In response, the electronic computingdevice searches for media publicly accessible on public networks such asthe social media network 170 to retrieve, for example, a social mediapost to which the unique tag linked to the incident identifier istagged. The electronic computing device 110 then provides a visual oraudio output indicating the retrieved social media post to which theunique tag is tagged. Additionally, or alternatively, the electroniccomputing device 110 then uploads the social media post to which theunique tag is tagged to the incident database 160.

FIG. 2 is an example functional block diagram of an electronic computingdevice operating within the communication system 100 in accordance withsome embodiments. The electronic computing device performs the functionsof the electronic computing device 110 shown in FIG. 1 , and may beembodied in one or more communication devices or computing devices notillustrated in FIG. 1 , and/or may be a distributed computing deviceacross two or more of the foregoing (or multiple of a same type of oneof the foregoing) and linked via a wired and/or wireless communicationlink(s). While FIG. 2 represents an electronic computing device 110described above with respect to FIG. 1 , depending on the type ofelectronic computing device 110, the electronic computing device 110 mayinclude fewer or additional components in configurations different fromthat illustrated in FIG. 2 . For example, in some embodiments, theelectronic computing device 110 acting as an infrastructure controlleror a server may not include one or more of the screen 205, microphone220, camera 221 (which may be an external camera coupled to theinfrastructure controller), and speaker 222. As another example, in someembodiments, the electronic computing device 110 may be a communicationdevice (e.g., used by public-safety agency officers) that includes oneor more of the screen 205, microphone 220, camera 221, and speaker 222.Other combinations are possible as well.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the electronic computing device 110 includes acommunications unit 202 coupled to a common data and address bus 217 ofa processing unit 203. The electronic computing device 110 may alsoinclude one or more input devices 206, for example, keypad, pointingdevice, touch-sensitive surface, button, and the like. The electroniccomputing device 110 also includes a microphone 220, a camera 221, andan electronic display screen 205 (which, in some embodiments, may be atouch screen and thus also acts as an input device), each coupled to bein communication with the processing unit 203.

The camera 221 captures video corresponding to its field-of-view forfurther processing by the processing unit 203 and/or for furthertransmission as a video stream by the communications unit 202. A speaker222 may be present for reproducing audio that is decoded from voice oraudio streams of calls received via the communications unit 202 fromother devices, from digital audio stored at the electronic computingdevice 110, from other ad-hoc or direct mode devices, and/or from aninfrastructure RAN device, or may playback alert tones or other types ofpre-recorded audio.

The processing unit 203 may include a code Read Only Memory (ROM) 212coupled to the common data and address bus 217 for storing data forinitializing system components. The processing unit 203 may furtherinclude an electronic processor 213 (for example, a microprocessor oranother electronic device) coupled, by the common data and address bus217, to a Random Access Memory (RAM) 204 and a static memory 216.

The communications unit 202 may include one or more wired and/orwireless input/output (I/O) interfaces 209 that are configurable tocommunicate, for example, with other devices in the system 100. Forexample, the communications unit 202 may include one or more wirelesstransceivers 208, such as a DMR transceiver, a P25 transceiver, aBluetooth transceiver, a Wi-Fi transceiver perhaps operating inaccordance with an IEEE 802.11 standard (for example, 802.11a, 802.11b,802.11g), an LTE transceiver, a WiMAX transceiver perhaps operating inaccordance with an IEEE 802.16 standard, and/or another similar type ofwireless transceiver configurable to communicate via a wireless radionetwork. The communications unit 202 may additionally or alternativelyinclude one or more wireline transceivers 208, such as an Ethernettransceiver, a USB transceiver, or similar transceiver configurable tocommunicate via a twisted pair wire, a coaxial cable, a fiber-opticlink, or a similar physical connection to a wireline network. Thetransceiver 208 is also coupled to a combined modulator/demodulator 210.

The one or more electronic processors 213 has ports for coupling to thedisplay screen 205, the microphone 220, the camera 221, the user inputinterface device 206, and/or the speaker 222. Static memory 216 maystore operating code 225 for the electronic processor 213 that, whenexecuted, performs one or more of the blocks set forth in FIG. 3 and theaccompanying text(s). The static memory 216 may comprise, for example, ahard-disk drive (HDD), an optical disk drive such as a compact disk (CD)drive or digital versatile disk (DVD) drive, a solid state drive (SSD),a tape drive, a flash memory drive, or a tape drive, and the like. Inaccordance with some embodiments, the static memory 216 may have accessto or otherwise temporarily or permanently store information included inthe incident database 160. For example, the electronic computing device110 may be configured to generate and store a unique incident identifier(e.g., a computer aided dispatch (CAD) identifier) associated with aparticular incident at the static memory 216. The static memory 216 mayalso include a table or database linking a unique code representing anemitted signal (i.e., audible and/or visible signal emitted by thepublic-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 1200) to the incidentidentifier. Linking the unique code representing the emitted signal tothe incident identifier allows users (e.g., public-safety agencyofficers) to search incident data captured by non-public-safety agencycontrolled cameras 140 corresponding to a particular incident to whichthe incident identifier is associated.

Turning now to FIG. 3 , a flowchart diagram illustrates a process 300for operating an electronic computing device 110 to tag incident datacaptured by non-public-safety agency controlled cameras 140. While aparticular order of processing steps, message receptions, and/or messagetransmissions is indicated in FIG. 3 as an example, timing and orderingof such steps, receptions, and transmissions may vary where appropriatewithout negating the purpose and advantages of the examples set forth indetail throughout the remainder of this disclosure. An electroniccomputing device 110 shown in FIG. 1 and/or electronic computing device110 shown in FIG. 2 , and embodied as a singular computing device ordistributed computing device may execute process 300 via an electronicprocessor 213 implemented at the electronic computing device 110. Theelectronic computing device 110 may execute the process 300 at power-on,at some predetermined periodic time period thereafter, in response to atrigger raised locally at the device via an internal process or via aninput interface or in response to a trigger from an accessory or anauthorized external device to which the electronic computing device 110is communicably coupled, among other possibilities.

The process 300 of FIG. 3 need not be performed in the exact sequence asshown and likewise various blocks may be performed in different order oralternatively in parallel rather than in sequence. The process 300 maybe implemented on variations of the system 100 of FIG. 1 as well.

Process begins at block 310 when the electronic computing device 110detects an occurrence of an incident. In one embodiment, the electroniccomputing device detects an occurrence of an incident based on obtainingreal-time incident information related to occurrence of an incident froman emergency communication system such as 911 communicationinfrastructure. In one embodiment, the electronic computing device 110monitors 911 emergency calls received at a public-safety answering pointof the emergency communication system to automatically extract incidentinformation and detect an occurrence of the incident. The incidentinformation includes information such as type of incident, incidentlocation, and information about specific person, object, or entity ofinterest corresponding to which audio, video, or image (i.e., incidentdata) needs to be captured from the incident location.

At block 320, the electronic computing device 110 obtains an incidentidentifier associated with an incident detected at block 310. Theincident identifier may correspond to a computer aided dispatch (CAD)identifier generated by the emergency communication system and furtherreceived as part of the incident information from the emergencycommunication system. Alternatively, the electronic computing device 110may locally generate and store a unique incident identifier to identifythe incident detected at block 310.

At block 330, the electronic computing device 110 determines that atleast one non-public-safety agency controlled camera 140 (see FIG. 1 )is available for capturing incident data corresponding to the incidentdetected at block 310. In accordance with some embodiments, theelectronic computing device 110 executes the function described in block330 only after determining that a public-safety agency controlled camera150 is not available or capable of capturing, storing, or taggingincident data corresponding to the detected incident. In theseembodiments, the electronic computing device 110 stores and/or hasaccess to a database that identifies a list of public-safety agencycontrolled cameras 150 and corresponding locations in which thepublic-safety agency controlled cameras 150 are deployed. The databasemay also include information related to the current capability of thecameras 150 in terms of available/total storage space, network/streamingcapability, multimedia tagging capability, battery charge level,field-of-view information, resolution, etc. For example, the electroniccomputing device 110 may search this database to determine whether apublic-safety agency controlled camera 150 is deployed at the locationof the incident detected at block 310. Further, when the electroniccomputing device 110 determines that one or more public-safety agencycontrolled cameras 150 are deployed at the incident location, theelectronic computing device 110 further determines whether the deployedpublic-safety agency controlled cameras 150 are capable of capturing,storing, or tagging incident data for evidentiary or investigatorypurposes. For example, the electronic computing device 110 may determinethat the public-safety agency controlled cameras 150 deployed at theincident location are not capable of capturing, storing or tagging theincident data for evidentiary or investigatory purposes when thepublic-safety agency controlled cameras 150 have a storage space lowerthan a predetermined storage space (i.e., storage space locallyavailable at the cameras 150 are not sufficient for capturing and/orstoring an audio, video, or image corresponding to the incident) or whenthe public-safety agency controlled cameras 150 have a battery chargelevel lower than a predetermined battery charge level (e.g., a body-worncamera operated by a public-safety agency officer may not havesufficient battery charge level).

The electronic computing device 110 may also determine that thepublic-safety agency controlled cameras 150 deployed at the incidentlocation are not capable of capturing, storing or tagging the incidentdata for evidentiary or investigatory purposes when the public-safetyagency controlled cameras 150 does not have a field-of-view to captureincident data, for example, an audio, video, or image of a specificperson, object, or entity of interest that needs to be monitored at theincident scene. In some cases, the electronic computing device 110 mayhave adequate storage space, battery charge level, and field-of-view forcapturing or storing the incident data corresponding to the detectedincident, but may not have capability to digitally tag the capturedincident data using visible and/or audible signals emitted by apublic-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 120. For example, apublic-safety agency controlled camera 150 deployed at the incidentlocation may be an analog device that cannot digitally tag the capturedincident data. Additionally, some public-safety agency controlledcameras 150 are not capable of recording video or images with highresolution. The video or images captured by such public-safety agencycontrolled cameras 150 may not meet the evidentiary standards andtherefore the electronic computing device 110 may determine in this casethat such public-safety agency controlled cameras 150 are not capable ofcapturing, storing, or tagging incident data corresponding to thedetected incident.

Accordingly, when the electronic computing device 110 determines thatpublic-safety agency controlled cameras 150 are not available or capableof capturing, storing, or tagging incident data corresponding to thedetected incident, the electronic computing device 110 proceeds to block330 to determine if there are non-public-safety agency controlledcameras 140 that are available for capturing incident data correspondingto the incident. In one embodiment, if the electronic computing device110 determines that public-safety agency controlled cameras 150 areavailable at the location of the incident and further capable ofcapturing, storing, and tagging incident data corresponding the detecteddata, the electronic computing device 110 may refrain from performingthe functions described at block 340 through 370 and instead relies onincident data captured by public-safety agency controlled cameras 150already deployed at the location of the incident for evidentiary orinvestigatory purposes. In an alternative embodiment, if the electroniccomputing device 110 determines that public-safety agency controlledcameras 150 are available at the location of the incident and furthercapable of capturing, storing, and tagging incident data correspondingthe detected data, the electronic computing device 110 may not refrainfrom performing the functions described at block 340 through 370, andinstead the electronic computing device 110 processes incident datacaptured by both public-safety agency controlled cameras 150 andnon-public-safety agency controlled cameras 140 for evidentiary orinvestigatory purposes.

Returning to block 330, the electronic computing device 110 determinesthat at least one non-public-safety agency controlled camera 140 isavailable for capturing the incident data based on the presence of acamera-enabled device in proximity to the incident location. In oneembodiment, the electronic computing device 110 identifies access points(e.g., base stations, evolved node Bs (eNBs), wireless routers, WiFiaccess points, or any other type of infrastructure equipment interfacingwith one or more wireless electronic devices) that are deployed within apredetermined geographical area from the location of the detectedincident. Once the access points are detected, the electronic computingdevice 110 will determine whether there are devices that are currently(i.e., in real-time at the time of occurrence of the incident)associated with the identified access points. The electronic computingdevice 110 may contact service providers (e.g., cellularoperators/internet service providers) or smart city infrastructure toidentify access points and/or devices that are currently present at theincident location. In these embodiments, the electronic computing device110 may obtain a list of device identifiers corresponding to the devicesthat are currently associated with the access points and may furtherrequest an appropriate service provider to confirm whether such devicescurrently present at the incident location are enabled with cameras. Inresponse, the service providers may confirm whether the devicescurrently present at the location are enabled with cameras.Additionally, or alternatively, the electronic computing device 110 mayreceive information related to the type of devices currently present atthe incident location. The type of devices may indicate thefunctionality of the devices present at the incident location. Forexample, if the type of device identified at the incident location is asmart mobile device, the electronic computing device 110 mayautomatically determine that the device is enabled with a camera andfurther capable of capturing, storing, and tagging audio, video, andimage data corresponding to the incident. In other words, the electroniccomputing device 110 determines that the smart mobile device is capableof tagging incident data captured at the incident location using bothaudible and/or visible signals emitted from a public-safety agencycontrolled IoT infrastructure 120. As another example, if the type ofdevice identified at the incident location is a video car recorder, theelectronic computing device 110 may determine that the video carrecorder is not capable of recording sounds from the incident location.In other words, in this example, the electronic computing device 110determines that the video car recorder is capable of tagging incidentdata captured at the incident location using only visible signals (i.e.,not audible signals) emitted from a public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructure 120. In these embodiments, the service provider isauthorized to share any information related to the devices present atthe incident location only after receiving permission from the owners ofthe devices to share such information with the electronic computingdevice 110. The electronic computing device 110 may additionally oralternatively determine availability of non-public-safety agencycontrolled cameras 140 through other automatic or manual methods aswell. For example, the electronic computing device 110 may obtaininformation related to the presence of users and/or civilians at theincident location from images or videos captured by public-safety agencycontrolled cameras 150 that may be deployed near the incident location.In this example, the public-safety agency controlled cameras 150 may nothave direct field-of-view to a person, object, or entity of interestthat needs to be captured from the incident location, but may have afield-of-view to a civilian user carrying a camera-enabled device andfurther proceeding in a direction toward the incident location.

Next, at block 340, the electronic computing device 110 identifies apublic-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 120 that is deployedat the location of the incident. In one embodiment, the electroniccomputing device 110 obtains information related to a public-safetyagency controlled IoT infrastructure 120 deployed at the incidentlocation from a smart city controller. The smart city controller may beresponsible for managing the IoT ecosystem comprising a hub of IoTdevices deployed in a particular city/geographical area encompassing theincident location and may authorize the electronic computing device 110associated with public-safety agencies to control one or more IoTdevices (e.g., IoT devices integrated into public-safety agencycontrolled IoT infrastructure 120 such as streetlights and billboards)to emit audible and/or visible signals. In this embodiment, theelectronic computing device 110 sends a request to the city controllerto obtain information related to at least one public-safety agencycontrolled IoT infrastructure 120. The request includes authenticationcredentials of the electronic computing device 110 and incident location(e.g., address, GPS coordinates, building name, landmark etc.,). Inresponse, the city controller authenticates the electronic computingdevice 110 using the authentication credentials to ensure that theelectronic computing device 110 is authorized by a public-safety agency(e.g., police department) to control the public-safety agency controlledIoT infrastructure 120. After authenticating the electronic computingdevice 110, the city controller sends a response including a list ofpublic-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructures 120 deployed at theincident location and an access token to enable the electronic computingdevice 110 to control one or more of the public-safety agency controlledIoT infrastructure 120 to emit audible and/or visible signals. Theresponse may further identify the type of public-safety agencycontrolled IoT infrastructure 120 to enable the electronic computingdevice 110 to determine whether the public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructure 120 is capable of emitting audible only signal, visibleonly signal, or both audible and visible signals. For example, if thelist identifies the type of public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructure 120 as a street light, the electronic computing device110 determines that the street light is capable of emitting visible onlysignals via a corresponding lighting component attached to the streetlight. As another example, if the list identifies the type ofinfrastructure as a loudspeaker, the electronic computing device 110determines that the loudspeaker is capable of emitting audible onlysignals via a corresponding speaker component attached to theloudspeaker. As another example, if the list identifies the type ofinfrastructure as a smart television, the electronic computing device110 determines that the smart television is capable of emitting bothaudible and visible signals via a respective speaker and displaycomponents integrated into the smart television.

Next, at block 350, the electronic computing device 110 controls atleast one public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit asignal including one of an audible signal, visible signal, or acombination of audible and visible signals (collectively referred to asan emitted signal) to enable the at least one non-public-safety agencycontrolled camera 140 determined at block 330 to tag incident datacaptured by the at least one non-public-safety agency controlled camera140 using the emitted signal. The electronic computing device 110 mayselect the at least one public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructure 120 from the list of public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructures received from the city controller based on a comparisonbetween the types of public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructuresincluded in the list and the type of non-public-safety agency controlledcamera 140 determined at block 330. For example, if the type ofnon-public-safety agency controlled camera 140 is a video car recorder,the electronic computing device 110 may determine that the video carrecorder is not capable of recording sounds from the incident location.In other words, in this example, the electronic computing device 110determines that the video car recorder is capable of tagging incidentdata captured at the incident location using visible only signals (i.e.,not audible signals) emitted from a public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructure 120. Accordingly, in this example, the electroniccomputing device 110 selects a public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructure 120, for example, a street light or a billboard, that iscapable of emitting a visible signal to enable the video recorder to tagan image or video captured corresponding to the incident using thevisible signal. After selecting the public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructure 120, the electronic computing device 110 controls theselected public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 120 to emitone of the visible signal, audible signal, or combination of audible andvisible signals to enable the non-public-safety agency controlled camera140 to tag the incident data using the emitted signal.

In case the selected public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure120, for example, a street light integrated with a lighting component ora billboard integrated with a display component, is capable of emittingvisible only signals, the electronic computing device 110 controls theselected public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 120 to emita visible only signal for enabling the non-public-safety agencycontrolled camera 140 to tag the incident data using the visible onlysignal. In accordance with some embodiments, when the electroniccomputing device 110 selects a public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructure 120 such as a street light integrated with a lightingcomponent, the electronic computing device 110 transmits an instructionto the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 120 (i.e., toa IoT receiver associated with the street light/lighting component) toemit a visible signal including a predetermined sequence of lightflashes via the lighting component. The instruction to the public-safetyagency controlled IoT infrastructure 120 includes commands forcontrolling a predetermined set of lighting parameters (e.g., intensity,duration, color, type, lighting component's position or height fromabove the ground at which the light flashes should be emitted) foremitting the visible signal including the predetermined sequence oflight flashes. Alternatively, when the electronic computing device 110selects a public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 120 such asa billboard, television, or any electronic appliance integrated with adisplay component, the electronic computing device 110 transmits aninstruction to the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure120 (i.e., to an IoT receiver associated with the display component) toemit a visible signal by displaying a pre-generated image (e.g., a quickresponse (QR) code, barcode, shape patterns, a photo, a picture, ananimation or short video clip etc.,) or text (e.g., a word includingalphanumeric characters and/or symbols represented in hashtag format)via the display component. The instruction to the public-safety agencycontrolled IoT infrastructure 120 includes the pre-generated image ortext that needs to be displayed via the display component at thepublic-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 120.

In another example, if the list of public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructure 120 includes only IoT devices that are integrated with aspeaker component (e.g., a loudspeaker), the electronic computing device110 may control the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure120 to emit an audible signal. In accordance with some embodiments, theelectronic computing device 110 transmits an instruction to thepublic-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit the audiblesignal including a predetermined sequence of audio tones via the speakercomponents. The instruction to the public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructure 120 includes commands for controlling a predetermined setof audio parameters (e.g., type, intensity, duration, frequency, placeof issue, recurrence etc., arranged for a given time duration) foremitting the audible signal including the predetermined sequence ofaudio tones.

In another example, when the non-public-safety agency controlled camera140 determined at block 330 is a mobile device or a portable camera thatis capable of recording both audio (i.e., via a microphone) and video(i.e., via a camera), the electronic computing device 110 selects apublic-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 120 that is capableof emitting both audible and visible signals. In other words, in thiscase, the electronic computing device 110 selects a public-safety agencycontrolled IoT infrastructure 120 that is integrated with both displayor lighting component and speaker component. The electronic computingdevice 110 further controls the selected public-safety agency controlledIoT infrastructure 120 to emit a combination of both audible and visiblesignals to enable the non-public-safety agency controlled camera 140 totag incident data using both the audible and visible signals. Inaccordance with some embodiments, the electronic computing device 110transmits an instruction to the selected public-safety agency controlledIoT infrastructure 120 to emit an audible signal including apredetermined sequence of audio tones via the speaker component and avisible signal including a predetermined sequence of light flashes or apre-generated image or text. The instruction to the public-safety agencycontrolled IoT infrastructure 120 to emit a combination of audible andvisible signals includes a first set of commands for controlling apredetermined set of audio parameters and a second set of commands forcontrolling a predetermined set of lighting parameters or for displayingthe pre-generated image or text.

In accordance with some embodiments, the electronic computing device 110transmits an access token received from the city controller along withthe instruction transmitted to the public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructure 120 to emit audible and/or visible signals. In response,the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 120 emits acorresponding audible and/or visible signal specified in the instructiononly after verifying the validity of the access token received from theelectronic computing device 110. When the access token received from theelectronic computing device 110 is not valid, the public-safety agencycontrolled IoT infrastructure 120 refrains from emitting a correspondingaudible and/or visible signal specified in the instruction. Accordingly,the access token enables the public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructure 120 to be controlled only by an electronic computingdevice 110 previously authenticated by the city controller.

In one embodiment, the electronic computing device 110 may select aplurality of public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructures 120 foremitting audible, visible, or combination of audible or visible signalsto enable the non-public-safety agency controlled camera 140 to tagincident data using one or more of the emitted signals. For example, theelectronic computing device 110 may control a first public-safety agencycontrolled IoT infrastructure 120 such as a street light to emit avisible signal including a predetermined sequence of light flashes, asecond public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 120 such as abillboard to emit a visible signal including a pre-generated image ortext, and a third public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 120such as loudspeaker to emit an audible signal including a predeterminedsequence of audio tones. In response, the non-public-safety agencycontrolled camera 140 present at the incident location may tag theincident data using one or more of the light flashes emitted by thestreet light, the pre-generated image or text displayed at thebillboard, and the audio tones emitted by the loudspeaker.

In one embodiment, when the electronic computing device 110 determinesthat there is no pre-deployed public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructure 120 available at the incident location, the electroniccomputing device 110 may signal one or more drones available forresponding to the incident location. The electronic computing device 110may control an available drone integrated with one of display, speaker,or lighting components to travel to the incident location and furtheremit one or more of audible and visible signals. In one embodiment, adrone integrated with a projector may be controlled by the electroniccomputing device 110 to travel to the incident location and furtherproject a visible signal (e.g., QR code, picture, image, shape or colorpatterns) directly onto a building or other suitable surface within thefield-of-view of non-public-safety agency controlled cameras 140. Inresponse, the non-public-safety agency controlled cameras 140 capturethe incident data and further tag the incident data using the visiblesignal projected onto the building surface by the drone.

At block 360, the electronic computing device 110 links a unique tagrepresenting the emitted signal to the incident identifier associatedwith the incident detected at block 310. The unique tag includes arepresentation of the visible and/or audible signal emitted by thepublic-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 120. For example, theunique tag may be a copy of a pre-generated image or text included inthe instruction transmitted to the public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructure to emit a corresponding visible signal. As anotherexample, the unique tag may be an audio file containing thepredetermined sequence of audio tones included in the instructiontransmitted to the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure120 to emit a corresponding audible signal. As a further example, theunique tag may be a digital code representing the predetermined sequenceof light flashes included in the instruction transmitted to thepublic-safety controlled IoT infrastructure 120 to emit a correspondingvisible signal. Multiple unique tags may be linked to the same incidentidentifier. For example, a first unique tag may be linked to theincident identifier to represent the pre-generated image or text to bedisplayed at a first public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure120 (e.g., billboard or a television) deployed at the incident location.A second unique tag may be linked to the same incident identifier torepresent the predetermined sequence of light flashes to be emitted by asecond public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 120 (e.g.,street light) deployed at the same incident location. A third unique tagmay be linked to the same incident identifier to represent thepredetermined sequence of audio tones to be emitted by a thirdpublic-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 120 (e.g.,loudspeaker) deployed at the same incident location.

In accordance with some embodiments, the electronic computing device 110stores, at the static memory 216, information linking the unique tag(s)representing the emitted signal to the incident identifier. Theelectronic computing device 110 may store multiple subsets of uniquetags at the static memory 216, where each subset of unique tags may belinked to a different incident identifier. For example, a vehiclecollision incident occurring at a first incident location may beassociated with a first incident identifier. In this example, a first QRcode displayed at a billboard deployed at the first incident locationand a first audible signal emitted from a loudspeaker deployed at thefirst incident location may be both linked to the first incidentidentifier. As another example, a fire incident occurring at a secondincident location may be associated with a second incident identifier.In this example, a second QR code (different from the first QR code)displayed at a billboard deployed at the second incident location and asecond audible signal emitted from a loudspeaker deployed at theincident location may be both linked to the second incident identifier.Accordingly, the electronic computing device 110 may link different setsof unique tags to different incidents to allow public-safety agencyofficers to search incident specific data captured and uploaded onpublic websites such as social media networks 170 by non-public-safetyagency controlled cameras 140.

Next, at block 370, the electronic computing device 110 searches theincident data captured by the non-public-safety agency controlled camera140 using the unique data representing the emitted signal. In accordancewith some embodiments, the non-public-safety agency controlled cameras140 present at the incident location may capture incident data (e.g.,audio, video, or image). The non-public-safety agency controlled cameras140 may further upload the captured incident data on one or more publicwebsites such as social media networks 170. When the non-public-safetyagency controlled cameras 140 capture the audible and/or visible signalsemitted by the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructures 120deployed at the incident location, the incident data uploaded on socialmedia networks 170 may be automatically or manually tagged with visibleand/or audible signals captured from the public-safety agency controlledIoT infrastructures deployed at the incident location. In accordancewith embodiments, public-safety agencies would be able to efficientlysearch such incident specific data uploaded on social media networks 170using the unique tag linked to the incident identifier. In oneembodiment, the electronic computing device 110 may receive a searchquery (e.g., from a public-safety agency user or a corresponding device)to search for social media content related to a particular incident. Thesearch query may include the incident identifier associated with theparticular incident or other unique information associated with theparticular incident. If the search query already includes the incidentidentifier, the electronic computing device 110 obtains the unique tagor unique tags linked to the incident identifier from the static memory216. Otherwise, if the search query includes keywords related toincident location, type of incident, officers assigned to the incidentetc., the electronic computing device 110 analyzes the keywords todetermine one or more incident identifiers that are mapped to thekeywords included in the search query. In any case, once the incidentidentifier is identified from the search query, the electronic computingdevice 110 obtains the unique tag or unique tags linked to the incidentidentifier, and responsively searches publicly accessible social mediacontent on one or more social media networks 170 to retrieve one or moresocial media posts to which the unique tag or unique tags linked to theincident identifier are tagged. In accordance with some embodiments, theelectronic computing device 110 may process the social media contentusing audio, image, and video recognition algorithms to specificallyidentify media content that is tagged using audible or and/or visiblesignals. Next, the electronic computing device 110 provides a visualand/or audio output indicating the retrieved social media posts to whichthe unique tag or tags are tagged. For example, the electronic computingdevice 110 may provide search results including audio, image, or videoassociated with the retrieved social media posts on a correspondingvisual and/or audio output device (e.g., a computing device on which thequery was input by the user). Additionally, or alternatively, theelectronic computing device 110 may upload the audio, image, or videoassociated with the retrieved social media posts to which the unique tagor tags linked to the incident identifier are tagged to the incidentdatabase 160. When audio, image, or video is uploaded to the incidentdatabase 160, the audio, image, or video is indexed with the incidentidentifier to enable public-safety agencies to search for content linkedto specifically queried incidents.

FIGS. 4A-4D show examples of visible and audible signals emitted bydifferent public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructures 120deployed at a particular incident location. In FIG. 4A, an incidentscene 180 and a public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 120-1(e.g., a smart television) deployed near the incident scene 180 areshown. In accordance with the embodiments described herein, theelectronic computing device 110 determines that a non-public-safetyagency controlled camera 140 (e.g., a smart mobile device) is beingoperated by a user 185 near the incident scene 180 and further controlsthe public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 120-1 to emit avisible signal. In the example shown in FIG. 4A, the smart televisiondisplays a visible signal including a shape pattern 400 that can becaptured by the non-public-safety agency controlled camera 140 alongwith incident data 410 (e.g., image or video) corresponding to theincident scene 180. A tag 420 corresponding to the shape pattern 400displayed at the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure120-1 is embedded to the incident data 410 when the incident data 410 isuploaded from the non-public-safety agency controlled camera to a socialmedia network 170 to enable public-safety agencies to search incidentdata related to the incident scene 180 using the tag 420.

In FIG. 4B, a similar incident scene 180 and a public-safety agencycontrolled IoT infrastructure 120-2 (e.g., an electronic billboard)deployed near the incident scene 180 are shown. In accordance with theembodiments described herein, the electronic computing device 110determines that a non-public-safety agency controlled camera 140 (e.g.,a smart mobile device) is being operated by a user 185 near the incidentscene 180 and further controls the public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructure 120-2 to emit a visible signal. In the example shown inFIG. 4B, the electronic billboard displays a visible signal including aQR code 430 that can be captured by the non-public-safety agencycontrolled camera 140 along with incident data 410 (e.g., image orvideo) corresponding to the incident scene 180. A tag 440 correspondingto the QR code 430 displayed at the public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructure 120-2 is embedded to the incident data 410 when theincident data 410 is uploaded from the non-public-safety agencycontrolled camera to a social media network 170 to enable public-safetyagencies to search incident data related to the incident scene 180 usingthe tag 440.

In FIG. 4C, a similar incident scene 180 and a public-safety agencycontrolled IoT infrastructure 120-3 (e.g., a loudspeaker) deployed nearthe incident scene 180 are shown. In accordance with the embodimentsdescribed herein, the electronic computing device 110 determines that anon-public-safety agency controlled camera 140 (e.g., a smart mobiledevice) is being operated by the user 185 near the incident scene 180and further controls the public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructure 120-3 to emit an audible signal. In the example shown inFIG. 4B, the loudspeaker emits an audible signal including apredetermined sequence of audio tones 450 that can be captured by thenon-public-safety agency controlled camera 140 along with incident data410 (e.g., image or video) corresponding to the incident scene 180. Atag 460 corresponding to the audio tones 450 emitted by thepublic-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure 120-3 is embedded tothe incident data 410 when the incident data 410 is uploaded from thenon-public-safety agency controlled camera 140 to a social media network170 to enable public-safety agencies to search incident data related tothe incident scene 180 using the tag 460.

In FIG. 4D, a similar incident scene 180 and a public-safety agencycontrolled IoT infrastructure 120-4 (e.g., a smart television) deployednear the incident scene 180 are shown. In accordance with theembodiments described herein, the electronic computing device 110determines that a non-public-safety agency controlled camera 140 (e.g.,a smart mobile device) is being operated by a user 185 near the incidentscene 180 and further controls the public-safety agency controlled IoTinfrastructure 120-4 to emit a visible signal. In the example shown inFIG. 4B, the loudspeaker emits a visible signal including a hashtag 470that can be captured by the non-public-safety agency controlled camera140 along with incident data 410 (e.g., image or video) corresponding tothe incident scene 180. A tag 480 corresponding to the hashtag 470displayed at the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure120-4 is embedded to the incident data 410 when the incident data 410 isuploaded from the non-public-safety agency controlled camera 140 to asocial media network 170 to enable public-safety agencies to searchincident data related to the incident scene 180 using the tag 480. Inone embodiment, the tag 480 is embedded as a watermark to an imagecaptured corresponding to the incident.

As should be apparent from this detailed description, the operations andfunctions of the computing devices described herein are sufficientlycomplex as to require their implementation on a computer system, andcannot be performed, as a practical matter, in the human mind.Electronic computing devices such as set forth herein are understood asrequiring and providing speed and accuracy and complexity managementthat are not obtainable by human mental steps, in addition to theinherently digital nature of such operations (e.g., a human mind cannotinterface directly with RAM or other digital storage, cannot transmit orreceive electronic messages, electronically encoded video,electronically encoded audio, etc., among other features and functionsset forth herein).

In the foregoing specification, specific embodiments have beendescribed. However, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates thatvarious modifications and changes can be made without departing from thescope of the invention as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly,the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrativerather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intendedto be included within the scope of present teachings. The benefits,advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause anybenefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced arenot to be construed as a critical, required, or essential features orelements of any or all the claims. The disclosure is defined solely bythe appended claims including any amendments made during the pendency ofthis application and all equivalents of those claims as issued.

Moreover, in this document, relational terms such as first and second,top and bottom, and the like may be used solely to distinguish oneentity or action from another entity or action without necessarilyrequiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between suchentities or actions. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “has”,“having,” “includes”, “including,” “contains”, “containing” or any othervariation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, suchthat a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises, has,includes, contains a list of elements does not include only thoseelements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherentto such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element preceded by“comprises . . . a”, “has . . . a”, “includes . . . a”, “contains . . .a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence ofadditional identical elements in the process, method, article, orapparatus that comprises, has, includes, contains the element. The terms“a” and “an” are defined as one or more unless explicitly statedotherwise herein. The terms “substantially”, “essentially”,“approximately”, “about” or any other version thereof, are defined asbeing close to as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, and inone non-limiting embodiment the term is defined to be within 10%, inanother embodiment within 5%, in another embodiment within 1% and inanother embodiment within 0.5%. The term “one of”, without a morelimiting modifier such as “only one of”, and when applied herein to twoor more subsequently defined options such as “one of A and B” should beconstrued to mean an existence of any one of the options in the listalone (e.g., A alone or B alone) or any combination of two or more ofthe options in the list (e.g., A and B together).

A device or structure that is “configured” in a certain way isconfigured in at least that way, but may also be configured in ways thatare not listed.

The terms “coupled”, “coupling” or “connected” as used herein can haveseveral different meanings depending on the context in which these termsare used. For example, the terms coupled, coupling, or connected canhave a mechanical or electrical connotation. For example, as usedherein, the terms coupled, coupling, or connected can indicate that twoelements or devices are directly connected to one another or connectedto one another through an intermediate elements or devices via anelectrical element, electrical signal or a mechanical element dependingon the particular context.

It will be appreciated that some embodiments may be comprised of one ormore generic or specialized processors (or “processing devices”) such asmicroprocessors, digital signal processors, customized processors andfield programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and unique stored programinstructions (including both software and firmware) that control the oneor more processors to implement, in conjunction with certainnon-processor circuits, some, most, or all of the functions of themethod and/or apparatus described herein. Alternatively, some or allfunctions could be implemented by a state machine that has no storedprogram instructions, or in one or more application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), in which each function or some combinations of certainof the functions are implemented as custom logic. Of course, acombination of the two approaches could be used.

Moreover, an embodiment can be implemented as a computer-readablestorage medium having computer readable code stored thereon forprogramming a computer (e.g., comprising a processor) to perform amethod as described and claimed herein. Any suitable computer-usable orcomputer readable medium may be utilized. Examples of suchcomputer-readable storage mediums include, but are not limited to, ahard disk, a CD-ROM, an optical storage device, a magnetic storagedevice, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a PROM (Programmable Read OnlyMemory), an EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), an EEPROM(Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) and a Flashmemory. In the context of this document, a computer-usable orcomputer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store,communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or inconnection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Further, it is expected that one of ordinary skill, notwithstandingpossibly significant effort and many design choices motivated by, forexample, available time, current technology, and economicconsiderations, when guided by the concepts and principles disclosedherein will be readily capable of generating such software instructionsand programs and ICs with minimal experimentation. For example, computerprogram code for carrying out operations of various example embodimentsmay be written in an object oriented programming language such as Java,Smalltalk, C++, Python, or the like. However, the computer program codefor carrying out operations of various example embodiments may also bewritten in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the“C” programming language or similar programming languages. The programcode may execute entirely on a computer, partly on the computer, as astand-alone software package, partly on the computer and partly on aremote computer or server or entirely on the remote computer or server.In the latter scenario, the remote computer or server may be connectedto the computer through a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader toquickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It issubmitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpretor limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in theforegoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features aregrouped together in various embodiments for the purpose of streamliningthe disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require morefeatures than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as thefollowing claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than allfeatures of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims arehereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claimstanding on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of tagging incident data captured by non-public-safety agency controlled cameras, comprising: detecting, at an electronic computing device, an occurrence of an incident; obtaining, at the electronic computing device, an incident identifier associated with the incident; determining, at the electronic computing device, that at least one non-public-safety agency controlled camera is available for capturing incident data corresponding to the incident; identifying, at the electronic computing device, a public-safety agency controlled internet-of-things (IoT) infrastructure that is deployed at a location of the incident; controlling, at the electronic computing device, the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit a signal including one of an audible signal, visible signal, or a combination of audible and visible signals to enable the at least one non-public-safety agency controlled camera to tag incident data captured by the at least one non-public-safety agency controlled camera using the emitted signal; linking, at the electronic computing device, a unique tag representing the emitted signal to the incident identifier associated with the incident; and searching, at the electronic computing device, the incident data captured by the at least one non-public-safety agency controlled camera using the unique tag representing the emitted signal.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to determining that at least one non-public-safety agency controlled camera is available for capturing incident data, the method comprising: determining that one or more public-safety agency controlled cameras are not available or capable of capturing, storing, or tagging incident data corresponding to the incident.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining that one or more public-safety agency controlled cameras are not available or capable of capturing, storing, or tagging incident data corresponding to the incident, comprises one or more of: determining that the one or more public-safety agency controlled cameras deployed at the location of the incident has a storage space lower than a predetermined storage space; determining that the one or more public-safety agency controlled cameras deployed at the location of the incident has a battery charge level lower than a predetermined battery charge level; determining that the one or more public-safety agency controlled cameras deployed at the location of the incident do not have a field-of-view to capture incident data corresponding to the incident; and determining that the one or more public-safety agency controlled cameras deployed at the location of the incident do not support tagging of captured incident data.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein controlling comprises: determining a type of the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure; controlling the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit only an audible signal when the type indicates that the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure is associated only with a speaker component; controlling the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit only a visible signal when the type indicates that the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure is associated only with a display component or a lighting component; and controlling the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit a combination of audible and visible signals when the type indicates that the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure is associated with the speaker component and one of the display component or the lighting component.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein controlling the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit only an audible signal comprises: transmitting an instruction to the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit the audible signal including a predetermined sequence of audio tones via the speaker component, the instruction further including commands for controlling a predetermined set of audio parameters for emitting the audible signal including the predetermined sequence of audio tones.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein controlling the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit only a visible signal comprises: transmitting an instruction to the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit the visible signal including a predetermined sequence of light flashes via the lighting component, the instruction including commands for controlling a predetermined set of lighting parameters for emitting the visible signal including the predetermined sequence of light flashes.
 7. The method of claim 4, wherein controlling the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit only a visible signal comprises: transmitting an instruction to the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit the visible signal by displaying a pre-generated image or text via the display component, the instruction including the pre-generated image or text.
 8. The method of claim 4, wherein controlling the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit a combination of audible and visible signals comprises: transmitting an instruction to the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit the audible signal including a predetermined sequence of audio tones via the speaker component and the visible signal including a predetermined sequence of light flashes via the lighting component or by displaying a pre-generated image or text via the display component, the instruction further including a first set of commands for controlling a predetermined set of audio parameters and a second set of commands for controlling a predetermined set of lighting parameters or the pre-generated image or text.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure is selected from the group consisting of electronic billboards, traffic signals, street lights, smart televisions, projectors, and loudspeakers.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein searching the incident data comprises: receiving a search query to search for social media content related to the incident, the search query including the incident identifier associated with the incident; obtaining the unique tag that is linked to the incident identifier included in the search query, and responsively searching social media content on one or more social media networks to retrieve a social media post to which the unique tag linked to the incident identifier is tagged; and one of (i) providing a visual and/or audio output indicating the retrieved social media post to which the unique tag is tagged, and (ii) uploading the retrieved social media post to which the unique tag linked to the incident identifier is tagged to an incident database.
 11. An electronic computing device, comprising: a transceiver; and an electronic processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver, wherein the electronic processor is configured to: detect an occurrence of an incident; obtain an incident identifier associated with the incident; determine that at least one non-public-safety agency controlled camera is available for capturing incident data corresponding to the incident; identify a public-safety agency controlled internet-of-things (IoT) infrastructure that is deployed at a location of the incident; control the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit a signal including one of an audible signal, visible signal, or a combination of audible and visible signals to enable the at least one non-public-safety agency controlled camera to tag incident data captured by the at least one non-public-safety agency controlled camera using the emitted signal; link a unique tag representing the emitted signal to the incident identifier associated with the incident; and search the incident data captured by the at least one non-public-safety agency controlled camera using the unique tag representing the emitted signal.
 12. The electronic computing device of claim 11, wherein the electronic processor is configured to determine that one or more public-safety agency controlled cameras are not available or capable of capturing, storing, or tagging incident data corresponding to the incident prior to determining that at least one non-public-safety agency controlled camera is available for capturing incident data.
 13. The electronic computing device of claim 12, wherein the electronic computing device is configured to determine that one or more public-safety agency controlled cameras are not available or capable of capturing, storing, or tagging incident data corresponding to the incident when the one or more public-safety agency controlled cameras deployed at the location of the incident has a storage space lower than a predetermined storage space, has a battery charge level lower than a predetermined battery charge level, do not have a field-of-view to capture incident data corresponding to the incident, or do not support tagging of captured incident data.
 14. The electronic computing device of claim 11, wherein the electronic processor is configured to: determine a type of the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure; control the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit only an audible signal when the type indicates that the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure is associated only with a speaker component; control the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit only a visible signal when the type indicates that the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure is associated only with a display component or a lighting component; and control the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit a combination of audible and visible signals when the type indicates that the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure is associated with the speaker component and one of the display or the lighting component.
 15. The electronic computing device of claim 14, wherein the electronic processor is configured to transmit, via the transceiver, an instruction to the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit the audible signal including a predetermined sequence of audio tones via the speaker component, wherein the instruction includes commands for controlling a predetermined set of audio parameters for emitting the audible signal including the predetermined sequence of audio tones.
 16. The electronic computing device of claim 14, wherein the electronic processor is configured to transmit, via the transceiver, an instruction to the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit the visible signal including a predetermined sequence of light flashes via the lighting component, wherein the instruction includes commands for controlling a predetermined set of lighting parameters for emitting the visible signal including the predetermined sequence of light flashes.
 17. The electronic computing device of claim 14, wherein the electronic processor is configured to transmit, via the transceiver, an instruction to the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit the visible signal by displaying a pre-generated image or text via the display component, wherein the instruction includes the pre-generated image or text.
 18. The electronic computing device of claim 14, wherein the electronic processor is configured to transmit, via the transceiver, an instruction to the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure to emit the audible signal including a predetermined sequence of audio tones via the speaker component and the visible signal including a predetermined sequence of light flashes via the lighting component or by displaying a pre-generated image or text via the display component, wherein the instruction includes a first set of commands for controlling a predetermined set of audio parameters and a second set of commands for controlling a predetermined set of lighting parameters or the pre-generated image or text.
 19. The electronic computing device of claim 11, wherein the public-safety agency controlled IoT infrastructure is selected from the group consisting of electronic billboards, traffic signals, street lights, smart televisions, projectors, and loudspeakers.
 20. The electronic computing device of claim 11, wherein the electronic computing device is configured to: receive a search query to search for social media content related to the incident, the search query including the incident identifier associated with the incident; obtain the unique tag that is linked to the incident identifier included in the search query, and responsively search social media content on one or more social media networks to retrieve a social media post to which the unique tag linked to the incident identifier is tagged; and one of (i) provide a visual and/or audio output indicating the retrieved social media post to which the unique tag is tagged, and (ii) upload the retrieved social media post to which the unique tag linked to the incident identifier is tagged to an incident database. 